A popular sitcom is accused of copying classic U.S. series such as Friends, The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother.
一部在中国大热的情景喜剧被指抄袭美国经典电视剧 “老友记”，“生活大爆炸” 以及“老爸老妈罗曼史”。
The show, iPartment, adheres the old sitcom trope of following a group of 20-something friends as they experience life in a big city.
这部名叫《爱情公寓》的电视剧，用老套的情景喜剧的方式将大城市里20岁左右年轻人的生活经历结合在了一起。
But sharp-eyed fans have noticed that the series seems to be uncomfortably close to some specific American hits.
但眼尖的粉丝马上注意到这部电视剧似乎有诸多模仿某些火爆的美剧的痕迹。
The stars of the series live together in two neighbouring apartments in a tower block - exactly the situation in Friends, but with New York transferred to Shanghai.
剧中的主角住在同一栋高楼里的两间相邻的公寓里，这和《老友记》的背景一样，只不过把纽约换成了上海而已。
One of the characters is a university lecturer, and another a radio host - not a world away from palaeontologist Ross and actor Joey.
其中一个主角是大学老师，另一个是广播节目主持人——与老友记中古生物家的Ross和演员Joey的身份角色也没有差太远。
The bizarre parallels led to an online backlash from Chinese watchers of iPartment, who took to micro-blogs to express their anger and post screenshots and video clips highlighting the similarities.
这个异乎寻常的巧合导致了中国观众在网上对爱情公寓的热议，他们使用微博来表示自己的愤怒，并贴上剧照以及视频来标明相似处。
'Many lines and scenes have been completely ripped off from American shows,' a web user named Grace told the Global Times. 'I thought it was shameful to do this. It is an insult to the American TV producers and an insult to the screenwriters and producers of original Chinese TV shows.'
一位叫Grace的网民对《金融时报》表示：“很多的台词和剧情都是完全从美剧照搬过来的。我认为这是极大地耻辱。这是对美国电视制作人的侮辱，也是对中国原创电视制作人和剧作家的侮辱。”
Another incredulous fan wrote, 'Is [iPartment] only intended for those born after 1990, who have not watched Friends?', according to the Daily Telegraph.
据《每日电讯报》称，另一个粉丝写到：“《爱情公寓》是不是为那些没有看过《老友记》的90后孩子们准备的？”
Last weekend, producers were forced to admit taking ideas from others, as they publicly apologised for using a comedian's jokes without attribution, and offered to compensate him for the plagiarism.
上周末，制片人已经被迫承认的确从别的作家那借鉴了想法，也为在没有告知的情况下使用了喜剧作家的段子公开致歉，愿意为剽窃对他进行赔偿。
However, a spokesman for the programme denied stealing from Western shows - and instead blamed the similarities on a lack of imagination in resorting to sitcom clichés.
然而该剧的发言人拒绝承认从国外电视剧中剽窃，反而开始指责由于想象力的缺乏造成情景喜剧陈词滥调的出现。
'We didn't copy the American sitcom,' he said. 'Comedies have stereotypes, like the handsome man, the gorgeous woman, the cheap man and so on. They have that in many comedies. 'Our creation is not plagiarism, but more a homage to the American sitcom.'
“我们并没有抄袭美国室内剧，”他说。“喜剧都有着原型，就像帅哥，美女，屌丝等等。很多喜剧中都存在。我们的创作并非剽窃，而更像是对美国情景喜剧的一种致敬。”